Letter to complain about misdescribed goods bought from a private seller

Use this letter template to complain to a private seller about goods that don't match how they were described to you. It should help the seller understand your point of view and their legal obligation to sort out the problem.

You can use this template for anything you’ve bought from a private seller, for example a car you bought on an online auction site or furniture you bought through an advert listing. If you want to complain about something you bought from a business, you should use our template letter for goods bought from a company.

You can send the letter by post or copy the text into an email. If you’d prefer to talk to the trader on the phone or in person you could read it out to them.

Further help

Contact the Citizens Advice consumer helpline on 03454 04 05 06 if you need more help - a trained adviser can give you advice over the phone. You can also use an online form.